


Aegis

by Fireflower34



Category: Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Developing Friendships, F/M, Female Friendship, Gen, Post Phantom-Bullet arc, Take this, about kirito, asu and sinon have a conversation, but its really brief, but not romantic - Freeform, idk what im doing, im sorry, quarantine is ruining me, slight mention of ptsd and panic attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:00:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23937298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fireflower34/pseuds/Fireflower34
Summary: Sinon never expected Asuna Yuki to show up at her schoolorAsuna and Sinon and their selfless idiot Kirito
Relationships: Asada Shino | Sinon & Yuuki Asuna | Asuna, Kirigaya Kazuto | Kirito/Yuuki Asuna | Asuna, mentioned
Comments: 4
Kudos: 82





	Aegis

**Author's Note:**

> second fic for today! :DDDD  
> So,,, this is most likely gonna be a series  
> i have far too many one-shots planned  
> most of them are Kirito-centered  
> so  
> *shrugs*  
> Don't like, dont read, that's all i gotta say

“Asada! Asada Shino!”

Sinon jumps, pausing in her school’s exit to search for the voice 

_ That’s not Endou, so who…? _

Her gaze stops on a familiar orange-haired girl who stood in front of the school gate, waving excitedly

_...Asuna? _

The swordswoman grins at Sinon as she makes her way over, “Found you finally! C’mon! Kirito and the others are waiting for us”

Sinon blinks, “oh, but why are  _ you _ here?”

“To walk you there of course!”

The sniper stares at her, stunned.  _ Walk me there…? The only person who’s ever done that… _ She shakes the image out of her mind, and offers a small smile back, “you didn’t have to do that, I would’ve been fine on my own.” 

A half-truth. In all honesty, she’d rather not deal with Endou’s group, the past few days had been exhausting, and she’s not sure she can fight off another panic attack today. But to have Asuna walk all the way out here…

Sinon jolts at a tug on her wrist, Asuna’s leading her off school campus, and after a quick glance around, it’s pretty clear why. People have started to notice the orange-haired girl, staring and whispering. Curious about the SAO survivor and the student she was talking to

Sinon ducks her head and pulls up her scarf, a habit she seemed to have picked up from GGO, and quickly follows Asuna away from the crowds.

They walk in silence for a bit as the noise fades behind them, and Sinon lifts her head to study the girl in front of her

Asuna had slowed down once they left the hoards behind, and was walking at a leisurely pace now, orange hair blowing in the autumn wind. She was dressed in a school uniform, Sinon notes, with a jacket hastily thrown over it and a backpack dangling off one shoulder.

_ How can she look so good and not even try? _ Asuna’s braid was hastily done, a few strands sticking up and bushing out from the small ponytail, and the jacket was crooked, like she’d run out of school in a hurry and hadn’t bothered to fix it. 

Sinon glanced down at her own outfit, a brown coat covering up the uniform she had underneath, and a pink scarf she bought the other day, the ribbons in her hair were coming loose, she noticed, they’d have to be redone

_ Asuna’s still holding my wrist…  _ Sinon stared at the point of connection,  _ it’d be rude to pull away… _

Asuna glances at Sinon and smiles apologetically, letting go of her wrist and letting the sniper scramble to catch up with her

They kept walking, Sinon’s hand climbing up to her scarf and starting to fidget with the soft fabric.  _ Should I say something? What would I say? What if I make it even more awkward? She might think I’m weird...but I don’t think she will. I could ask about SAO? Wait no that might be offensive. Besides… _ Sinon glances at the girl next to her, remembering Kirito’s panic attack during BoB.  _ I don’t know what triggers they might have… _

_ “Ah-Chu!” _

Sinon flinches in surprise, “Ah b-bless you!”

Asuna wipes her nose and mumbled out a ‘thanks’ before hugging her arms and shivering, the white cloud of her breath whisked away by a breeze “darn it, I  _ knew  _ I should’ve brought the thicker jacket”

“Y-yeah it’s been pretty cold lately.”

The two of them fell back into silence, their shoes clicking on the sidewalk

Sinon shifts her backpack, wishing the teachers didn’t have to give so much homework over weekends, and tried to ignore the awkward quiet between them. Why did Asuna come anyway? She didn’t know much about the girl, just that she was Kirito’s girlfriend and a powerful SAO survivor. She seemed nice, but first impressions weren’t always reliable

Maybe Kirito sent her? Nah, he would’ve come himself if he felt she needed an escort. So whatever Asuna was doing here, her boyfriend likely didn’t know anything about it. 

Sinon couldn’t help but feel suspicious, falling back instinctively to keep an eye on the girl. If Asuna noticed, she didn’t say anything, just stopped at a crosswalk and pressed the button, humming a tune to herself as they waited.

Sinon watched the cars whiz by absently, the streaks of color like the intro screen for the Amusphere. Maybe the Nervegear had looked like that too

“Can I call you Sinon?”

The sniper blinked at Asuna, a bit caught off guard, “Uh, yeah, sure.” Asuna smiles at her as the light turns green and the two of them start walking again, Sinon counting the number of steps it took to reach the sidewalk, thirty-two. Asuna took twenty-four.

It was fifty-three steps until the swordswoman spoke again. “I wanted to talk to you, actually.”

Sinon nearly trips, stumbling a few steps to catch herself, “t-talk to me? About what?” her hand grips the scarf tighter, heart climbing to her throat as dread prickled at her skin, and Asuna’s face gave nothing away

_ Did I do something wrong? _

_ Did Kirito tell you something? _

_ Are you mad at me? _

She keeps her breaths even, matching Asuna stride for stride, the dread creeping closer towards her heart until Asuna turns and  _ smiles _ at her

“I wanted to thank you, actually”

_ Thank  _ her? All the nervousness is swept away in utter astonishment and confusion, 

“For what?”

Asuna looks thoughtful, “Well, a lot of things, I guess, but mostly for protecting Kirito”

And just when she thought things couldn’t get any weirder “For protecting  _ Kirito?! _ He did most of the protecting”

Asuna laughed, Sinon noting absently that it sounded like spring flowers and birdsong and  _ oh wow that’s pretty _ but her face turns serious a second later, “well, you taught him how the game worked, didn’t you?”

“Well yeah, but that’s because I thought he was a girl” Sinon huffs, caught in the irritation of that moment and the lingering shock from hearing Asuna  _ laugh holy-  _ “He didn’t tell me his real gender until I was changing in front of him, Thought he was a perv.”

“Heh, sounds like Kirito.” Asuna’s voice was exasperated and amused and slightly apologetic in a way that made Sinon want to laugh too

“Yeah, though I don’t see how that counts as ‘protecting’”

The swordswoman hums in acknowledgment, “well, you showed him the ropes. Without you I have no doubt he would’ve been completely lost. He fights with swords, and so do I. Neither of us have much of an idea of how to fire a gun. And well,”

Asuna turns to face Sinon, her face completely serious and a little bit sad, “Kirito’s always played hero. That’s just how he is. And sometimes I think we forget that he can’t do  _ everything. _ That’s why we’re a party. In SAO…” Something flickers in her eyes, but Sinon can’t decipher it before she turns to face the sky.

“He played solo. He always played solo. At least until I forced him to party with me. But he played solo and he was  _ good _ at it. Too good. He threw himself into battles he shouldn't have won and fought people he shouldn’t have stood a chance against. He’s always protected us, and we try to do the same.  _ Someone’s _ gotta curb his self-sacrificing tendencies. And when he disappeared to GGO, it scared us, because we don’t know what might happen to him if there's no one to back him up. We could never stop him from risking his life, but at least we could help him. But he didn’t tell a single one of us what he was doing, and that last fight with Death gun? Well...” Asuna shakes her head, “I’m sorry to dump all that on you Sinon.”

“N-no its fine, really!”

In all honesty, Sinon was fascinated by Asuna’s description of Kirito. It  _ did _ seem like something he’d do. And, well, she understood why they’d be worried when he disappeared. He can’t take everything on alone, but he’d certainly  _ try _

The teenager smiles at her, “Well, what I’m trying to say is, thanks Sinon, for fighting with him.”

Sinon stares at her, sees the pure unadulterated gratitude in her smile and decides that Kirito has good taste. She smiles back, “Of course, you can trust him with anyone’s life but his own, right?”

Asuna laughs again, “That sums it up pretty well” She puts a hand on the doorknob of Agil’s bar. When did they get there?

“Ready to meet the team?”

Sinon takes a deep breath, swallowing down the anxiety and fear and reminds herself that if anything goes wrong, she’s got Kirito and Asuna to fall back on. It’s not like it was a few weeks ago.

So, gathering her courage, Sinon places a hand over Asuna’s and turns,

“Yeah, I think I am.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
